Hiei vs. Kurama: Tactics

“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you, Kurama,” Hiei warned in a dark tone. He drew his sword and threw the scabbard away. “In this ring, nothing else matters except the strength to do battle.” His eyes gleamed.

Kurama sighed. “Yes, I did have the feeling you would say that, sooner or later,” he commented, voice calm despite the dangerous stare coming his direction. He’d seen it before. Kurama pulled out the rose from his magic. “At the very least, this battle will be interesting.” He braced his legs, ears pricked for the referee’s command.

Hiei flexed his hands. Inwardly, he mused, “I’ll be entertained in this one to the end.”

The stadium hushed.

“BEGIN!” The announcer’s voice rang across the arena like a bullet.

Kurama closed his eyes. Hiei vanished and reappeared behind him. The fox’s eyes snapped open and he whirled away. “Rose Whip!” Hiei caught the thorns twice on his sword then leapt backward out reach.

Hiei landed like a cat on the other side. For a moment, all was still. Then, he stood. “Not bad for your opening moves,” he commented. Then, he braced his legs. “But that won’t work a second time.” He vanished then appeared in a crouch at Kurama’s knee.

Kurama’s eyes widened as he flipped away from the steel. He stopped a few yards away. But wait! Again, Hiei appeared, too close for the whip to function. His sword darted at Kurama’s face. Kurama spun up in the air, whip lasing around him as a shield. Hiei dodged the released thorns, stepping in and out, catching some on his sword. The last fury of thorns sped his way in a clump. Hie whirled his blade in a blazing arc of light, ripping them in half.

Hiei straightened, smirking. Five vines sped at his face.

Kurama dropped to the ground then stood straight. “Well, I think that’s enough warm-ups,” he calmly noted, flipping the rose whip over his shoulder.

Hiei leapt out of a crumpling mound of green. “Indeed.” He wiped at his smudged face. “I warned you that I wouldn’t go easy on you.” His sword began to waver as a blue aura surrounded it.

“That’s true.” Kurama chuckled and brushed away the darkening blood on his cut cheek. He focused on Hiei. “So are we beginning, now?” His crimson hair started shimmering. The whip vibrated.

“Heh.” Hiei smirked. He sprang into the air. “You’ll wish you did that earlier.” His blade curled in blue-black flames. “Whip of the Dragon!” A wave of roped flame sped down towards Kurama.

Green eyes intense, he stared up at it. “How colorful.” His eyes morphed to gold. His whip snapped, sending a wave of silver energy out as the blue flames enveloped him.

A vermillion blur flashed behind him. Hiei turned around just in time to catch the whip on his blade. He spiraled backward to avoid the backlash, but a gash opened up on his left arm. A pillar of silver flame twisted out of the ground at his elbow. At his shoulder, Youko Kurama emerged, arms folded, a huge crimson plant wrapped around his right arm. Hiei jumped out of its reach, slicing one of the gaping mouths in half.

He brought his sword in front of him. “I never liked that beast of yours.” With a twist of his wrist, he whirled the blade in a rapid arc, leaving a trace of blue fire. The trace erupted in a burst of black flame. “Breath of the Darkened Flame!”

Youko appeared beside him, right shoulder singed. “Hiei, I’m surprised you expect so little from your fires,” Kurama said in his own calculated voice.

Hiei turned around. “Of course I trust my skills, but the fact remains that you could hardly wake your seed after the blast hit you.” He opened his left hand in which a bloody violet seedling rested.

“So that’s where it went when it missed your wrist.”

“I caught it in midair, sly fox. It served a purpose.” Hiei paused, then, with a sarcastic edge in his voice prompted, “Is it safe to be standing around and talking?” He locked his dark eyes with the brilliant pupils of his foe. “This is still in the middle of a duel.”

“Of course not.”

As one, they leapt up, just as silver blue flames ripped out of the ground, followed by giant crimson plants.

They sped towards the opposite sides of the arena. The middle melted into a smoldering gaping hole.

“Well, folks, I don’t see this battle ending one way or another anytime soon. Our two combatants are on fire. Neither one is showing any signs of backing down,” the announcer boomed.

Kurama flew out of the flames, laughing. “Ironic. I am on fire.” He brushed at the little fires on his pant legs. A couple golden sparks snapped at his fingertips. “Well, it seems my next move has already begun. I wonder if Hie . . .”

Kurama stopped. He could see Hiei’s right arm as Hiei spun away from the hole. The bandage had been untied. Smoking strips rippled in the air. Then, Kurama noticed the heat behind his head.

Hiei landed on his feet and wrapped the treacherous magic back into his bonds. Out of the corner of his eye, his dragon pummeled Kurama, still on the ground. Golden eyes sparkling, it moved for the kill. The ground rumbled underneath.

“Heh, so it worked. It took long enough to finally be able to unleash any power momentarily, without . . . ”

Suddenly, a great weight seized Hiei’s body. It was as if all his energy was being sucked out of him, away from his control. He collapsed to his knees, sword screeching across the stones.

“What the . . .” Blood leaked down his arms. “How did he . . .” He fell unconscious.

“What’s happened now?! It looks like both our fighters have been knocked down by each other. How has Kurama stopped the rapid movements of the swordsman? And when did Hiei call forth the dragon to trample the fox? Your guess is as good as mine. Well, I guess we wait for one to stand again.”

Kurama managed a weak smile. He could do without the commentary right now. His head was pounding and his limbs felt like weak dough. “Hiei, it seems this is your win,” he grunted hoarsely before his eyes closed against his will.

* * *

Yusuke’s face swam in front of Kurama. “Well, you’re finally waking up. How do you feel?”

Kurama closed his eyes again. “I still feel like a giant has pressed me into a mountain,” he remarked in a low but bright voice. Once more, he opened his eyes. “It is afternoon, judging by the heat. Was I only out for a few hours?”

Yusuke sputtered but was interrupted by an irritated bark. “Give my dragon some credit, scoundrel fox.” Hiei was sitting in a window, arms crossed and wrapped in strips. “It’s no lizard. If I’m out a whole day, you’re sleeping for at least that amount of time.”

Kurama stood up, shakily. “Of course.”

“Humph.” Hiei turned back to the window.

“So I suppose both of us were out. Who’s the winner then?”

Yusuke responded, “No one. It’s a draw. You’re both out of the race.”

Kurama smiled. “That explains Hiei’s frustration.”

Hiei suddenly leapt off his post. “I find your victory curious, fox. Which of your plants held the trick this time? I tore apart most of the plants in my way, and my Darkened Flame sent more to oblivion. The only plant I didn’t destroy immediately was the seed in my palm. However, I ripped it out long before the end.”

“Nonetheless, that tiny seedling was the key. It’s called fireweed dust. As soon as the plant took root in your hand, it sent out a wave of toxins in the air and through your blood.”

“I didn’t sense any toxins.”

“That’s because the poison didn’t activate until after the fires had scorched my plants and the smoke rich with those chemicals had risen in the air. Temporarily, the poison acts as a slow paralyzer and drains the energy away at the same time. It used to be Youko’s favorite tactic when pursuers tried to smoke him out after a raid.”

Yusuke blinked. “Wow, so Hiei’s attack sealed his fate?”

“In a way. As soon as he used the Darkened Flame, the process started, but Hiei decided how soon he succumbed to the drug. The Darkened Flame takes a great deal of energy, which would eat up his resistance.

Also the energy lost is added to mine.”

Hiei shrugged. “I see. Then, you called out your doom, too.”

“My 'Tongue of the Darkened Flame' is a method I created recently. It allows me the ability to call forth the Darkened Flame’s attacks without the incantation. In essence, it’s a whirlwind attack. The wind acts as a tongue sensing strong energy. It will lock onto the core of that power and drag it into the furnace.”